Wednesday, May 11, 2016

I've been looking at this incredible painting by Gustave Moreau quite a lot recently. He did it toward the end of his life, and it is probably a culmination of many of the themes, ideas & motifs he had used throughout his career. What strikes me most about it is the awesome (as in awe-inspiring) indigestibility of it, in that I could spend my life looking at it and possibly never manage to absorb all of it, never mind understand what is going on. The individual main theme of the painting, Jupiter revealing his true self to his lover (and the mother of Dionysus) & thereby killing her with his divine thunder and lightning, is straightforward enough, but that is almost the least of it. It seems as though every square inch of the canvas is covered with figures, or jewels, or plant forms, or fruit. The only element of relief is the deep blue sky, which the eye and mind must return to frequently, lest the density of imagery and paint exhaust the viewer...

In any case, I am feeling that I should produce a monumental, complex work, that might be as awe-inspiring and confusing as this one.

Sunday, May 01, 2016

A more complex drawing...containing a multitude of elements from previous works & other places...

I think this piece is notable not because it holds together particularly well, but because individual parts are more interesting than the whole. So, not a complete success, perhaps, more of a fascinating failure, to me at least. Also contains a lot of references to Bosch & Breughel.

Subscribe To

About Me

I'm a British artist currently resident in upstate New York, where I live in the wondrous Hudson Valley with my wife & children. My work deals with imagination, myth, the human condition & social issues, and the way they intersect & allow us to understand the world. I've exhibited extensively in Europe, the USA, & more recently, Israel. You can see more of my work at www.ayton.net.
Regarding re-using my artwork from this blog (for not-for-profit purposes): in most cases, it's OK. Please credit me as the creator of the image, & if possible link to the page where you found the piece. If the image is used in an inappropriate setting, I will most likely ask you to remove it. Thanks.